Tainted
by awkwardbean03
Summary: A constant nightmare on an infinite loop, with no plans to leave the poor girl alone. Her usually peaceful mind was anything but. Sleep evaded her—or maybe she evaded it. PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTES
1. Tainted

**Hey guys. Time to get really serious.**

**This fic contains so many triggers. I'm warning you now, as I care too much about all of you to allow you to get triggered because of my writing.**

**This fic contains:**

**•rape**

**T****here is a good amount of detail gone into what happens in the beginning. Not super detailed, but it is described enough for it to be obvious what the hell is going on**.

**•self-harm**

**M****ari at one point starts to cut herself. It is a short scene, but is mentioned later when the cuts are being treated**.

**If any of the above can trigger something in you, please, please, PLEASE, don't read this fic. You lovely people don't deserve to be triggered by something as simple as a fanfiction.**

**If you are able to read this, I hope you enjoy it (I guess?).**

**I do not own Miraculous, otherwise Gabe would be a better father.**

THIS IS YOUR LAST TRIGGER WARNING, FOR THOSE WHO SKIPPED THE AUTHOR'S NOTES. LAST WARNING!

_Screams._

_Pain._

_Bruises._

_Deflowered._

A constant nightmare on an infinite loop, with no plans to leave the poor girl alone. Her usually peaceful mind was anything but. Sleep evaded her—or maybe she evaded it. It wouldn't bring the peace she so desperately craved. It wouldn't allow her to escape from the turmoil in her brain that was making her life hell. It would only force her to relive every horrific detail.

_Taken advantage of. _

_Held down against her will. _

She had heard Tikki's yelp when her purse was ripped from her body. Had heard her screaming and crying. Had been able to sense the dilemma the kwami was facing.

Help her charge, someone she loved with all her immortal being, or keep the Ladybug secret safe as if this male found out he would certainly use it to his advantage.

So she stayed put.

Tikki tried to get Marinette's phone working. Tried to call 112. But she didn't know the password. So she could only sit and cry, whimpering at every scream, unable to help.

Marinette didn't blame the demigod. How could she, after she found Tikki crying her eyes out, unable to stop for hours. And even after she calmed down, she couldn't bring herself to speak without the formation of tears.

Of course, the girl fought back. She bit, hit, punched, and kicked. She kneed him in the groin, screamed into his ears, spat in his face. But to no prevail.

He kept going. Kept murmuring how beautiful she was. How deliciously tight she felt. All she could do was try and free her hands from his strong grip. Try to move the legs he had pinned down with his own.

This monster. This shitty, pathetic excuse of a life. He ruined her. He ruined her and she couldn't tell a soul. After all, no one would believe her.

She had heard the stories. Seen the news. Women humiliated in front of a jury. The men walking away, free to continue their life as normal. The rapist painted as the victim in the scenario where he truly was the thief.

So she kept it to herself.

She went to school, not bothering to care for how she looked. Having brushed hair is for people who aren't tainted. Having nice clothing is for those who don't have to worry about whether their birth control is going to prevent them from carrying the seed of a monster.

Worry was evident on every familiar face she passed.

Alya tried to pry out what was wrong. Tried to comfort when she started to cry. Tried to give the girl the space she requested. Tried to understand when Marinette refused to let her in.

Nino tried a different approach. As he had known Marinette longer than the other two, he simply tried observation. He saw how she gave up caring for her physical well-being. Saw how she didn't answer questions like she usually did. Watched as she didn't move when the lunch bell rang. Noticed she didn't go home to eat or leave the school to go find a meal.

Adrien tried to be extra nice. He didn't want to do something and make her feel worse, so he became The Perfect Gentleman. Gave her the answers to the questions she left blank. Kept people from bothering her all day. Opened doors and carried anything she couldn't bring herself to pick up.

Even Chloé was worried. Marinette never was like this. Even when angry, she still managed to take care of herself. Even when depressed, managed to defend herself when Chloé teased her, instead of just drawing into herself. Worry evident on her face, she berated Alya, demanding to know who hurt Marinette. Alya, to her dismay, knew nothing. They both had tears in their eyes as they turned to look at the girl they both wanted so desperately to help.

The trio stayed after school to converse, wanting nothing more than to help their friend.

Alya sobbed as Nino tried to comfort her, Adrien looking down, no one able to bring themselves to voice the obvious.

Something tragic had happened to Marinette.

But what that something was would be nearly impossible to figure out. She hadn't spoken one word all day, other than to tell Alya to lay off.

Adrien, desperate for answers, tried to suggest a family member she was close to had perished, leaving her in a state of depression.

Quick to dismiss the idea, Alya reasoned that Marinette would be willing, at least with her, to talk about it.

Sighing, Adrien continued to stare off into space. He knew she was right. Knew there was nothing they could do at the moment. But that didn't stop the gut-wrenching feeling of guilt that continued to traverse through his body. He wasn't helping his princess. Wasn't protecting her from all harm. What kind of 'knight in shining armor' was he?

Nino, breaking the silence, said he was going to take Alya home. Telling Adrien they'd talk later, he started the slow process of getting Alya up and helping her walk home.

The second they turned the corner, Adrien ran to an alley and transformed, determined to help, even if he got shouted and kicked out of her life forever for it.

Tapping at her trap door, he waited.

And waited. . .

And waited. . .

He knew she was home, having seen her head into the bakery himself not even 30 minutes ago. Shaking his head, he clambered down the side of the building.

Not caring about people questioning him anymore, Chat Noir walked into the bakery. Greeting Mrs. Dupain-Cheng, he inquired as to the whereabouts of Marinette.

She was hesitant at first, but he reassured that he just wanted to check up on her. He simply wanted to make sure she was okay but had no clue as to where he could find her.

Relaxing, she pointed to the back door and said she was up in her room. With a grateful smile, he thanked the kind woman and headed up the stairs.

...oOo…

Marinette sat in her chair, trembling. She knew the people at school had only wanted to help, but they instead made everything worse.

_Tap-tap._

She knew who was there. Knew who wanted to help. But her kitty wouldn't want to help after he found out what happened. He would stare at her in disgust, and run away, never daring to look at her again.

And she wouldn't even blame him, that was the worst part. Hell, she would stare at herself in disgust if she could even gather the courage to look in a mirror.

As memories started to resurface, Marinette clenched her hair as she grimaced, phantom pain covering her body.

In an attempt to rid herself of the pain, she grasped for her exacto knife she kept with her sewing kit and cut a small slit in her wrist.

Letting out a relieved sigh as the pain started to centralize, she cut another. And another. And another. The pain left her private area, left the bruises and scrapes she had littering her body and all went to the cuts on her wrist.

Marinette brought the knife back up to her wrist to cut another when her trap door slammed open. Snapping her head to see who dared intrude when she _specifically_ told her parents she wanted to be left alone, she was surprised to see Chat Noir standing there.

His jaw was dropped, which left her a little confused. Yes, she knew she looked horrible. Knew she wasn't looking like her normal self. But that didn't warrant a reaction like—oh.

Setting the knife down, she looked down, shame pooling in her stomach. Tears slowly started to form, quietly sliding down her face.

She heard her partner closing the distance between them. Clenching her eyes, she prepared for him to scold her or shout at her in disgust.

What she hadn't been expecting, was a hug.

Looking down, she saw the man hugging her as tightly as he could without causing her more pain, balling his eyes out. She was at a loss with what to do, unsure as to what the next move to make was.

They sat in that uncomfortable silence for a long time, Chat sobbing and Marinette unsure of what to do.

"Talk to me, princess." Chat croaked out, looking up at her with his tear-filled eyes. "What's wrong? Please talk to me, let me help."

Looking down, Marinette closed her eyes as she weighed her responses. Taking a steadying breath, she muttered: "You wouldn't believe me." Her voice was raspy from not using it all day, but she couldn't bring herself to care. "And even if you did, you wouldn't want to help me after you knew what happened."

"Marinette?"

No response.

"Marinette? Princess? Look at me, _please_."

Opening one eye, she saw Chat kneeling on the floor in front of her, tears still falling rapidly.

"Princess, I would never, ever, _ever_ turn my back on you. In fact, you have no idea how guilty I feel at the fact that I wasn't there to prevent whatever happened from happening.

"I can tell you want help. You want someone to fix this. I may not be able to reverse what happened, but I can help get the weight off your shoulders."

His breathing hitched as he spoke his next words with so much conviction that she felt herself starting to believe him.

"Princess, you mean too much to me for me to even consider leaving you when you're hurting this much."

At that, the floodgates opened. Tears pouring out, Marinette couldn't do anything but cry. Chat wrapped his arms around her, and they sobbed together.

They sat like that for almost an hour, both crying, although each for separate reasons.

As Marinette started to calm down, with Chat rubbing his thumbs in soothing circles on her back, the man gently asked where her spare blankets, a first aid kit, and a kettle were.

After receiving the locations of each request, Chat promised the girl he would be back in around 15 minutes.

13 minutes later, the superhero walked in with 5 blankets over his shoulders and a tray filled with snacks and tea.

Setting the tray down on her desk, Chat asked Marinette to change into her pajamas so she was still comfortable but didn't overheat.

It took her almost ten minutes to complete that simple task, but nevertheless, it was completed. Smiling warmly at the fragile girl before him, Chat beckoned her over.

Stumbling over, she was brought into a hug from the boy, and he led her over to her chaise. He helped her sit down, and brought out some cotton balls, rubbing alcohol, and band-aids.

"Princess?"

She hummed in response.

"This is going to sting. If you want, you can clench onto my shoulder. I just don't want your parents to come up, ready to murder me for hurting you." He said the last part with a small chuckle and gave her an encouraging smile as she held onto his shoulder.

Pressing the alcohol soaked cotton down, he gently dabbed at the cuts she had inflicted. He felt her body tense, but she didn't respond in any other way again.

He noticed fresh bruises and scrapes that weren't from her but decided to keep quiet about them, figuring she'd tell him when she was ready.

After everything was cleaned up, and her cuts were properly covered, Chat sat down next to her, gently pulling her into a cuddling position. Laying the blankets strategically over them, he also set the tray on their laps for easy access.

Pouring the tea and rationing out the snacks was the easy part. Getting her to eat them was a whole other challenge in itself.

Although the cookies were enticing, Marinette made it clear she didn't deserve them. Going so far to state it aloud, to which the alley cat retorted, "There is not a single person in this world more deserving of your parent's treats than you, Mari."

Reluctantly, the girl took a small bite out of a cookie. Still warm, the cookie left a pleasant taste in her mouth. Slowly, she kept taking bite after bite until the cookie was gone. Thirsty, she took a small sip of the tea until that was gone as well.

Looking up, she blushed at the expression the cat sat beside her was giving her. Full of pride, the man started to rub her arm, making it clear he was proud of her and ready for her to talk whenever.

Taking a deep breath, the girl started to reassure herself. This is Chat Noir, your trusted partner. He would never judge you, he even said so himself. Besides, wouldn't it be nice to have someone to talk to?

"Last night," she started, "I was walking home. I sometimes take walks at night to clear my head and was only a couple minutes away from returning home. Suddenly, someone—" she stopped there, unable to continue as panic overtook her body.

Rigid in his arms, Chat Noir continued to rub at her arm, attempting to gain her attention.

"Princess, hey princess. Listen to me. Alright, we're going to take a deep breath in . . . and a deep breath out. Deep breath in . . . deep breath out. That's it! Deep breath in . . . deep breath out . . ."

Slowly, but surely, the boy brought her back to reality, helping her keep her anxiety at bay. Smiling gratefully at him, she snuggled closer to him. She laid there, listening to his heartbeat, for a long time. After some time, she attempted to finish her story.

"I had been walking when I fe-felt someone grabs my wrist and pulls me into an alley. I started to scream, but he clamped a hand over my mouth as he ripped my purse from my body. Th-then his hands started to wander and—"

She started to panic again, but Chat rubbing her back and quietly shushed her, encouraging her to get it all off her chest.

"And he ripped my, ripped my jacket and shirt off, and then pulled my jeans down and started, started to plea-pleasure himself."

Chat pulled her closer to him, rubbing circled on her back. She felt her hair start to get wet, and she realized he had started to cry again. That triggered her tear ducts too, as she started to whine unabashedly.

"He took advantage of me Chat! He-he used my body and I couldn't get him off! He was," gulp, "he was too strong! And now I'm tainted and no one will ever—"

"Woah, woah, woah." Chat started, gently moving her head to meet his eyes. Seeing the sadness in her eyes was a punch to his gut. Hearing her say she was tainted was a gunshot in his chest.

"None of this makes you any less human, you got that? You are still the same, sweet, _beautiful_, Marinette I call princess. Yes, what that monster did was shitty and if I ever find him he will learn the true meaning of pain.

"But you? You are not tainted. You are simply someone who has gone through a horrific experience no one should ever have to go through. Do you understand me?"

The ferocity behind his words moved her. The love and sadness in his eyes moved her. And before she knew it, she had tackled him in a hug, not caring for the tray she knocked off of their laps.

Hugging her back just as hard, Chat asked why she hadn't told anyone.

"No one would believe me. You know the world, you know how it works. No one would believe me, and no one can help me either."

"Not even your friends? Not Alya, or Nino? Not Adrien?"

Looking down, Marinette's lips started to tremble.

"They might believe me. But they can't help. No one can."

"**Bullshit.**"

Hearing such a fierce exclamation from him startled her, forcing her to shoot her head upwards. Her eyes locked with his, she saw fire behind the words that tumbled out next, him speaking so quickly she could barely understand.

"Sure, maybe they can't help legally. Maybe you can't get the justice you five-thousand percent deserve. But they can do what I did. They can listen. Help you get the weight off your chest. Be there for you, like all friends should be.

"They can help you avoid situations like this again. Checking up on you. Hell, I'll walk around with you every night if you want. They can make sure people at school don't bother you. They can make sure you don't feel the need to inflict pain on yourself.

"Maybe you can't get the full justice you deserve. But they're your friends, Princess. They'll do whatever it takes to protect and help you, no matter what."

Tears dripping down his face, Marinette had never seen Chat so passionate about something before. He was so sure of himself, so confident in what he was saying.

Slowly but surely, Marinette felt the confidence oozing into her body, taking the reins. With her tears blurring her vision, she wrapped her arms around the boy. Feeling him hug her right back, she couldn't help but smile.

When he kissed the top of her head, massaging small circles into her back, Mari felt some of the pain float away, no longer weighing her down.

"Thanks, Chaton." She mumbled into his chest. "You really are the best, you know."

"Anything for you, Princess." He muttered, too preoccupied with the cuddling to notice the footsteps coming towards the trapdoor.

_Knock-knock._

Marinette looked up at Chat, alarm replacing the warm feeling for the time being.

"Yes?" Marinette called out, hoping no one came in.

"We were just making sure you were okay, sweetie! Chat came in earlier, and he never came out. He seemed so desperate to talk to you, is all." Her mom called out, muffled a little because of the barrier.

"I'm all good Maman! Chat left through the balcony a while ago."

"Okay, sweetheart. Dinner will be ready within the hour!"

"Got it, Papa!"

As the footsteps returned, this time going away from the door, Marinette sighed, looking back at the cat with confusion on her mind.

"How did you know something was wrong with me?" She asked, remember how he slammed the door open earlier, obviously wanting to get in quickly.

"Adrien."

Tilting her head, she asked what he meant.

Looking away from her a blush spreading across his face, he explained: "Your friends were all extremely worried about you. Adrien didn't know how to help, so he contacted me, saying he didn't want you to become an Akuma."

Glancing back down at her, it was his turn to be confused. "Princess?"

"I, I'm good. I'm good." She whispered, obviously off in her own world.

Laughing to himself, he stretched his neck before grabbing her hand and kissing it, coyly saying: "Well, Princess. If you really wanted me to leave earlier, you should have just asked."

Rolling her eyes, she mimed anger, saying, "That was only to get rid of my parents, silly."

With a loud laugh, Chat threw his arms back around Marinette, kissed the top of her head, before promptly standing up and bowing.

"Well, as much as I love your company, I really better be off. My owner will, quite literally, kill me if I stay out too late. And I really don't want a tracker implanted in me."

Giggling, Mari retorted, "Maybe you need it then."

With her expression softening, she got up to hug him one last time, whispering: "Thank you, Chat. For everything. And, did you really mean it?"

"I'm not sure which part you're talking about, but I meant every word I said."

With a chuckle, she bopped his nose before turning and walking over to her desk.

"See you tomorrow night then!"

His bell jingling softly as he quirked his head, a soft 'huh' could be heard from across the room.

"You did say you would accompany me on my late night strolls, no? So, see you tomorrow!"

With a happy smile on his face, the boy bowed once more, before responding, "I'll be counting down the seconds, Princess."

**He...he.**

**So, that was the fic. I'm debating making it chaptered. Let me know what you think in the replies!**

**I'm sorry if I made anyone upset because of this story. It came to me a week or so ago, and I worked very hard on this in order to make sure it was good.**

**If I make more chapters, it would be Mari telling her friends, family, and slowly becoming herself again.**

**ALSO:**

**IF I SEE ANY, AND I MEAN AANNYYYYYY, VICTIM BLAMING REPLIES ON MY STORY, I WILL NOT HESITATE TO GO OFF. IT IS NEVER THE PERSON WHO WAS RAPED'S FAULT. ALWAYS THE FUCKING RAPIST.**

**Okay! PSA over!**

**I hope you lovelies have a wonderful rest of your day, and see you in the next fic!**


	2. Love and Affection

**Yo, yo, yo.**

**At popular demand, and my own want to write more, this story has become chaptered!**

**(I'm really bad at sticking to my plan of one one-shot and two chaptered stories [this wasn't any of those...oops?])**

**Woohoo, yeah, yay.**

**SLIGHT TRIGGER WARNING**

**If you've read the first chapter, you should be fine, but I still want to make sure you lovelies continue to be as mentally okay as possible.**

**There is a brief mention of rape, simply because Marinette starts to tell people.**

**There is also victim blaming from everyone's favorite bitch, Lila.**

**I believe that is all, but please read at your own risk.**

**I would prefer this story have zero reads than someone be triggered by me.**

**Lots of love,**

**Me **

**Enjoy the chapter!!!**

**I do not own Miraculous, or Chloé would have had her slow redemption arc start sooner.**

Dinner had been eventful.

First, even though it was barely 6:30, Marinette descended the stairs in her pajamas. She looked exhausted, but also seemed to be spazzing with energy at the same time. Her eyes were red and puffy, a direct result of her sobbing her eyes out for hours. Her parents noticed but said nothing.

Next came Marinette gulping down water like a parched dog on a hot day. With all the crying her and Chat had done earlier, she was extremely dehydrated. Her parents were confused but said nothing.

Then it continued with Marinette shoveling food down her throat like she hadn't eaten in days. After all, the first bite she had to eat all day was that cookie with Chat, and since the rest had been on the floor, she was starving. Her parents glanced at each other after she filled her plate for the third time, but said nothing.

After everyone had had their fill, the big moment had arrived.

The scary moment.

Her parents had believed her, she knew they would. But that didn't stop the shaking of her hands, the trembling of her voice, the inability to look them in the eyes.

Even more tears were shed, with the promise they would do everything in their power to prevent this from reoccurring. They also promised to take her to a gynecologist within the next couple of days.

Laughing and crying with them, Marinette thanked them for understanding and being so supportive. She also relayed Chat's promise to accompany her if she ever wanted to take a late night stroll again.

She ignored the knowing glances of her parents.

Despite how fresh the wounds were, Marinette smiled for the rest of the night. She smiled while cleaning up, smiled while showering (her soap does not taste as good as it smells), and even had a small smile in her sleep.

She was slowly becoming herself once more.

...oOo...

The next morning Marinette woke up early.

She had made _sure_ she set an alarm so she could wake up, as she had some planning to do.

First off, her outfit: She couldn't wear her normal one. It was plagued with memories she wished to rid herself of. Putting them in the trash bin, she turned to survey her choices.

Did she want a purple shirt? Or was she feeling the red dress? Hmmm….

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of color. Grinning, she grabbed the shirt, turning to look through her pants drawer. Her grin turned insane, filling up half of her face.

This outfit, it was perfect.

Putting on the outfit, she turned to observe her handy work.

Smirking, she pulled her hair out of its signature pigtails, opting instead for a ponytail.

This . . .

This outfit was perfect.

...oOo...

Walking to school, people noticed the difference immediately.

The first difference was that she wasn't wearing her normal outfit, but it also wasn't the oversized clothing of the day prior. She wore black jeans with a green t-shirt, a black paw print adorning each sleeve. Her silent way of attributing her mood to her kitty.

The next difference was she was smiling. She talked, greeted people, laughed when Nino made a dumb joke. She seemed to be better than yesterday, and almost happier than she had been in a long time.

Sitting down in her seat, she felt her classmates staring at her, felt their curiosity peaking. Alya starting spouting questions left and right, but Marinette's Ladybug training had kicked in long before she even sat down.

Electing to ignore all of them, she reached down to tap Adrien on the shoulder.

Turning around, Adrien couldn't help but smile, over-the-moon that his princess was feeling better. She was saying something to him, but given the fact that he was too busy drinking in her appearance (Was it Chat themed? Or is it too conceited to assume someone wearing the same color scheme as your superhero identity means it's you themed?), he missed every word.

"I'm sorry, Marinette. I didn't manage to catch what you said. Could you repeat it please?" Adrien apologized, rubbing his neck while feeling a blush start to crawl across the bridge of his nose.

Giggling, Marinette repeated herself: "I just wanted to thank you for sending Chat Noir over yesterday. He really helped me out. I'm sorry for worrying you that much though."

"No, no, no! You have nothing to apologize for! I just wanted to make sure you didn't become an Akuma, not when I could try to prevent it!" Adrien quickly exclaimed, speaking as fast as he could, not wanting his princess to feel guilty. _Especially_ since he knew the reason for her behavior.

"Actually Mari, what was up yesterday? You went full 'internalize everything' on us. You had me worried sick!"

"Yeah, Marinette. What happened?"

Silence filled the classroom as everyone stared in shock at who just voiced concern over Marinette.

It was . . . Chloé?

"What?" Chloé snapped, glancing around at everyone. "Marinette is never like this. She always keeps her emotions to herself, doing her best to make sure no one ever has to worry about her. It's obvious to anyone with eyes, really."

Still, there was silence.

"Seriously?!?"

"I'm sorry I made you worry, Chloé." Marinette managed to get out after a long bout of silence.

Taking a deep breath, Marinette tried to calm her nerves before she continued.

"In fact, I'm sorry I made all of you worry. It wasn't my intention, nor would I have gone about handling my misery in that way had I known you would worry this much. I mean, Adrien contacted Chat Noir to come help he was so worried.

"I, recently I had something tragic happen to me. I internalized it and refused to tell anyone because I truly believed no one would care to help me. Instead, I managed to harm the people I care about.

"It is not easy to talk about, and I hope you all understand I don't want to go into any detail concerning this event.

"Two nights ago . . . I was, um, I was . . . I was ra—"

She took another deep breath.

"I was raped."

Marinette squeezed her eyes shut, expecting the worst.

After the silence had gone on for more than a couple seconds, she cracked one eye open. Looking around, she saw everyone frozen, tears dripping down most faces.

Before confusion could completely mar her features, she was tackled in the largest group hug she had ever received, the speed they closed in on her equivalent to that of a hummingbird's wings. Alya sobbed into her ear as Nino muttered how sorry he was, and how he wished he could have been there to protect her. Adrien was shaking, his tears recreating Niagara Falls on his face. Even Chloé was a mess, mascara running down her face as she tried to get closer to Marinette.

Every member of her class was on top of her, pouring every ounce of love and affection they had into her. Every member except . . .

"Bullshit."

The crickets returned, as everyone slowly turned to look at Lila. Just as Alya was about to go off on her with a few choice words, she was cut off by a very angry blond.

"Seriously?? You're _seriously_ going to sit there, listen to Mari say how hard this had been for her, and say bullshit?!? What the actual _hell_, Lila!!" Adrien growled, staring at her with murder in his eyes as his vision turned red.

The chain reaction had begun.

Everyone started yelling at her, from Max stating statistics to Alya blatantly insulting her, with Chloé threatening to ruin her parent's political career.

Kim started to flex, showing how easily he could break her. Nino was backing up his girlfriend, helping come up with insult after insult. Adrien was hissing, literally embodying his alter ego.

All the while, Lila slowly shrank into herself as she began to truly learn the meaning of fear. She watched as the class turned on her quicker than she ever would have thought possible. She listened to them defend one of her two sworn enemies.

And fear she did.

...oOo…

Marinette looked up at her classmates in amazement. She knew they were nice, hell, they were some of the nicest people she knew! But to this extent? She never would have guessed.

As she moved her gaze from one person to another, she saw the potential for all of them to become permanent Miraculous wielders one day.

She saw Alya forever jumping alongside her, Nino not that far behind. Saw Kim swinging around, Alix running faster than everyone else. And if she looked with enough precision, she could _almost_ see a leather cat tail swishing behind Adrien, as agitated as the boy it was connected to.

Her thought process was halted when Miss Bustier walked in, demanding to know the cause of the ruckus inside her classroom.

"Lila said Marinette lied about a tragic thing that happened to her!"

"Yeah Miss, we were only trying to defend Mari!"

"Lila was hurting her after she had already gone through so much! What else were we to do!"

"We didn't get physical, Miss! We promise!"

A chorus of 'yeah!s followed as Miss Bustier looked from determined face to determined face.

Sighing, she glanced up at the target of their anger. Lila looked terrified out of her mind. Glancing around one more time, her face hardened.

"Lila, what did you say?"

In an attempt to retain whatever shred of dignity she had left, Lila sat up, holding her chin high, and said, "I only said that Marinette was bluffing about being raped is all.

"I mean, who would ever believe such a thing?"

Missing the anger slowly taking control of her teacher's face, Lila felt her confidence surging.

"In fact, even if it did happen, it surely had go have been Marinette's fault. She probably was wearing this _ridiculously_ scandalous outfit, practically _begging_ for it."

Looking at her nails, she failed to notice her classmates all glaring murder at her, Alya drawing Marinette into her arms as Adrien pushed his sleeves up, ready to fight. Failed to realize she had brought upon her own demise.

Before things really did get physical, Miss Bustier cut everyone off. With a cold and calculating voice, Miss Bustier sweetly started to speak.

"While that is a lovely lie you've just conjured up, Lila, I would highly advise ever saying something similar in my classroom again.

"See, in my classroom, we don't victim blame. We understand that it is entirely the rapist's fault. We know that in no possible scenario does the victim want to be raped.

"And in _my_ classroom, we punish those who speak such thoughts."

Pushing back the strands of hair that stubbornly fall out of her bun, Miss Bustier glared into the eyes of one Lila Rossi.

"So unless you would appreciate receiving detention for the rest of your school days while also having to take over the janitorial duties and having a very detailed conversation with your parents, I suggest you shut the hell up and get the fuck out of my classroom."

Lila froze, fear taking over her body. As she failed to move, Miss Bustier slammed her clipboard on her desk, her knuckles on the hand holding her pen turning white.

"**Now.**"

Darting out of the classroom, Lila tripped, resulting in her stuff sprawled across the floor and hallway. Stumbling up, she grabbed whatever she could and sprinted out the door.

Taking in a deep breath, Miss Bustier was instantly transformed back into her normal self.

Ignoring the awe rolling off her student's faces, she focused on Marinette's wellbeing.

"Are you okay? She didn't hurt you, did she?"

Marinette looked up at her teacher, tears filling her eyes. Miss Bustier was filled with a flash of fear, thinking she somehow hurt Marinette. But that thought process was nullified when Marinette threw herself at the woman, knocking her off balance with a ginormous hug.

"Thank you." She whispered. "Thank you, thank you, _thank you!_"

Smiling, the teacher patted the girls back before helping her up, insisting that it was her pleasure, and reminding Marinette that she could always talk to her if she needed to.

Sitting back down, Marinette couldn't remember a time in which she was filled with more love and appreciation for the people in her life.

**Woop.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! I have one more planned, but let me know if you would like more than one chapter and I'll see about making this story longer!**

**I tried my hardest to make it longer, but for some reason it was so hard for me to make it over 2k words. I'll try and make the next one waayyyy longer for y'all!**

**I always appreciate reviews, as it makes my heart clench with joy to know someone enjoys my work!!**

**I hope you lovelies have a wonderful rest of your day, and see you in the next fic!**


	3. It's Okay Not To Be

**YO!**

**IT ME!**

**TRIGGER WARNING MACHINE HAS RETURNED MATE!!**

**•rape**

**There are more details brought into what happened that night. Not super detailed, but more detailed than it was before.**

**•self harm**

**Mari starts to cut once more, and it's described in more detail than before.**

**•someone else getting triggered**

**Idk if this counts as a trigger, or if this triggers someone, but Mari is triggered in this, and it goes deep into her mind, so I wanted to warn just in case.**

**I've seen that some people who read this have been through similar situations, which you lovelies should not have had to go through. I hope you think twice before reading this, as I REALLY don't want you triggered because of me. That would legit break my heart.**

**OKAY I HOPE YOU ENJOY AND SEE YOU AT THE END BB!!**

**I don't own Miraculous otherwise we would get more stories about past superheroes.**

LAST TRIGGER WARNING FOR THOSE WHO SKIPPED THE AUTHOR'S NOTES!!

Marinette had a bounce to her step as she hummed her way home. Her mood had already risen from the dark pits of the night before, but with how sweet and thoughtful her classmates had been that day, she felt she as though could fly.

Her face turned beet red as she reminisced earlier, Adrien's reactions to the situation at the forefront of her mind. He was so ready to stick up for her against Lila, completely fine with the idea of physical harm against that bitch for her when she attempted to lie to Ms. Bustier.

Her train of thought slowly drifted back to before Ms. Bustier interrupted. She thought of the stance Adrien was in, remembered the snarled comeback at Lila, the fire in his eyes, almost envisioned a leather tail swishing behind him—

Marinette's thought process was cut short once more as she slammed into a body. As she stuttered out an apology, she failed to notice who she ran into.

She turned to move around them, but they gripped her arm, her attention brought back to them. Marinette looked them in the eye, and anxiety filled her mind, her body tensed as panic filled every nerve.

"Adrien?!?"

Chuckling, Adrien nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry to scare you like that. I noticed you seemed lost in thought and wanted to know if I could walk you home?"

Marinette stared into the emerald orbs of her crush.

"I, well, I thought maybe you wouldn't mind having someone you, well, someone you're friendly with walk you home? So you feel safer as you recover from what happened?"

_Marinette.xe has shut down._

Adrien tried not to freak out too much as he grabbed her shoulders.

_Everything's okay! She's fine! She's breathing, she isn't yelling! Everything is fine! Right?_

"Marinette?"

Although Marinette's body portrayed the illusion of a quiescent mind, hers was simply the opposite.

_OMG, HE TALKED TO ME AND IS WORRIED ABOUT ME AND CARES ABOUT ME OH MY GOD WHAT DO I DO!!!_

"Marinette! What's wrong? Are you okay? I didn't hurt you did I? Oh god, I hurt her! Shit, shit, shit! What do I do?!?" Adrien started to pace back and forth and hoped against all odds that Marinette hadn't been transported back into those dark memories like she had last night.

As Marinette watched her crush go into panic mode, her brain initiated _Sunshine Alert: Sunshine has begun to panic._

Grabbing the boy's hand (_OMG HIS HAND IS SO SOFT—FOCUS GODDAMNIT!_), Marinette started to shush him, even considered pulling him into a hug to grab his attention.

"Hey, hey now! I'm fine, I promise! It's, um, I'm not used to people thinking of me first in this kind of way before! You surprised me is all, and my brain went into overdrive!"

Adrien stared at her for a couple of seconds before he pulled her into a warm hug. With a gasp, Marinette stood there awkwardly before she eventually returned the hug. Adrien started to whisper into her hair: "Oh, thank goodness. I was so worried, and I didn't know what to do or how to help!"

Marinette giggled. "It's okay, Adrien. I'm fine. Promise."

Kissing her head, Adrien pulled back, a grin plastered on his face. As Marinette's face started to flush (_god she looks so cute—wait, where did that come from?_), Adrien said, "Okay! Off to your place we go!"

Adrien grabbed her hand (both of them silently reassuring themselves it was so they weren't separated) and pulled Marinette along, transforming into a raconteur like no other.

"—and that's why I'm never giving my bodyguard apples ever again," Adrien said, with a push the door to the door of the bakery. Marinette had been belly laughing the entire story, a euphonious sound that made his head swirl.

As she wiped a tear away, Marinette mustered her way in. "Oh my God. That was so funny, Adri—oh goodness, we're packed."

The mood quickly switched from humorous to stressed as Marinette observed her parent's rush around in an attempt to appease the crowded bakery.

"I better go help them. Thank you for walking with me!"

Before he could think too much about what his actions could lead to, Adrien picked up Marinette's hand and kissed it (_why does this feel so familiar_). "It was my pleasure."

With a steady blush on both party's faces, Adrien turned to leave the bakery and Marinette turned to offer her services to her family.

...oOo…

The bakery had been frantic, with no moment to take a breather, but there had been worse days. At least that time they had a couple of apprentices in the back to help out Papa so Marinette and her mother could focus on the front of the store.

A smile on her face, Marinette headed up to her room with a full belly. It had been her dad's turn to cook that night, which meant it was a more traditional French meal.

When her dad placed the plate in front of her, she couldn't stop her imagination from presenting her with the mental image of a rat controlling her dad as he made the Ratatouille they consumed that night. Top it off with one still warm souffle, and Marinette was one happy girl.

As she set her bag down, the green-clad girl apologized profusely to her kwami with no acceptance of the demigod's insistence that it was fine. In the end, the goddess had to endure around 10 minutes of heartfelt sorrows from the girl, before she gently reminded her that she still had homework to finish.

Opening her backpack, the girl sat down to start. Luckily, she didn't have much to do that day, though she speculated it was a result of Ms. Bustier taking pity on her situation. Even though that brought a tinge of pink to her face, she wasn't about to complain. Light homework was light homework after all.

30 minutes later, Marinette had been, somewhat, productive. Her math homework had been a breeze, as had been her chemistry. That didn't stop the flowers in the margins from mysteriously popping up every now and then.

She was on the last question of her French assignment when her eyes, on their own accord mind you, slide slightly to the left. Marinette froze. Her pencil dangled precariously from her fingers.

There, sat innocently, was her exact-o knife.

_The_ exact-o knife.

Pencil dropping, Marinette felt her body seize up, and her neck fought against the paralysis to snap to the right. The torn up clothes of _that night_ peeked out from her trash can.

Panic fully set in. Marinette tipped out of her chair, not even noticing the impact of the floor. Her breath irregular, she twitched as her eyes flitted around the room, adamant with their search for more triggers. Her eyes closed, but it was no help, as it allowed her brain to conjure up the scent of _him_.

...oOo...

Tikki had been peacefully messing around with scrap fabrics when she heard the thump. She let out a gasp as she turned before zipping over. Racking her immortal memory, tips popped into her head.

Marinette was known to have panic attacks on the regular, and she had been especially prone as a young child. So, as to make sure her kwami didn't feel completely useless in these situations, she taught her tips that worked for her.

"Marinette, I need you to look at me!"

Tikki felt fear creep into her mind as Marinette made eye contact, but her eyes held no emotion, no proof she was alive. They looked...dead.

"Marinette, I want you to describe me in as much detail as you can. From the shade of my skin to how large my spots are, okay? Could you do that for me?"

The girl opened her mouth to speak but seemed to choke on her spit because no coherent sounds left her mouth.

Tikkit continued this for 15 minutes, trying to encourage Marinette to speak, to pull her mind out of the pit it had returned to, but to no prevail. When her charge started to reach her hand up, the kwami felt hope spark in her chest. Maybe she had started to calm down! She seemed to be trying to pull herself up!

So when, instead of hauling herself off the floor, the girl pulled the knife back down to her, the kwami started to cry. Tried to pull the knife away, but no matter what lengths she went to, her charge couldn't be stopped.

...oOo…

There were garbled noises coming from right above her. Moving her eyes, she noticed the flying creature. Amidst the muck that was her brain, she was pretty certain the kwami was speaking. She caught a few words of the rambles, "describe—large—spots," but understood none of it. The outside noise stopped, which indicated all talking had seized. The girl opened her mouth to ask what had been said, but everything worsened at that same moment.

The pain crept back.

Choking on her own spit, she started to tremble. Her arms burned where she was scratched from the bricks her body rubbed against when he pulled her into positions that best suited him. Her wrists throbbed from when he gripped her to ensure she couldn't leave, as well as to hold her in place as she thrashed about. Her shoulder stung from when he ripped her purse off her body for easier access to what he craved, no care in the world for her valuables as he decided for himself what was truly valuable.

That all was bearable. Her body was numb anyway, so the pain could be described as a dull ache at best. Nothing the heroine couldn't handle.

But when her vagina flared up, all rational thoughts went flying like her purse.

Slowly raising her arm, Marinette blindly felt around her desk. She heard Tikki gasp with excitement as her arm raised, but as her hand grasped the object she was searching for, the reaction turned to sobs.

Tikki tried to pry the weapon out of her hand, but the little demigod was no match for the willpower of a girl in pain. Watching the kwami slump to the ground in defeat with tears rolling down her cheeks hurt, but not as much as her vagina did at the moment.

Pushing the knife out, she cut a slit. The girl let out a sigh of relief as she felt the pain fade until it was all centralized at her wrist. Laying there, everything limp, Marinette enjoyed the few minutes of numb bliss.

But a short nine minutes later, the pain faded from her wrist and spread back into the rest of her body. Desperation drove her to cut another slit with a sob. Tears welled up from the relief. This process happened in a continuous circle for the next hour.

Pain. Panic and grasp for the knife.

Cut. Watch the blood trickle out and slide down the sides of her wrist.

Sigh. Let the knife go limp in her hand, eyes closing as the fire that burned in her vagina burnt out for those few blissful minutes.

Repeat.

It was on her seventh repeat of this horrendous cycle that she heard a soft thump against her roof, but Marinette couldn't bring herself to care. She'd had Niagara Falls steadily recreated on her face since her fourth cycle, but there wasn't enough feeling left in her body for her to mind. Her wrist looked like a murder scene, as she had started to cut dangerously deeper and scarily larger in hope of the relief lasting longer, but. She. Didn't. Give. A. Fuck.

There was a muffled curse before her trapdoor slammed open.

...oOo…

Adrien was distracted the rest of the day.

He was reminded of his princess wherever he went. With every Chinese symbol he read, her bluebell eyes flashed in his mind. Her giggles matched in time to the clash of the fencing sabers. Her scent, a wonderful mix of cookies and vanilla, wafted through the emptiness of the dining hall. Her smile shone through the computer screen as he finished up his homework.

As he laid his head on his desk, eyes closed, Adrien hoped to be free of the constant tease that was her. It provided no break, however. The darkness had a blue tint to it, reflecting nonexistent light in similar ways to her soft-looking hair. Green flashes appeared every so often to remind him of her outfit of the day. Obviously inspired by him—well, Chat Noir. A silent thanks, something so in character. So, so…

So Marinette.

A groan echoed across the vast emptiness of his bedroom.

"God, I thought I lucked out when you stopped moping around over Ladybug this year. Now you're moping over this girl."

With a glare in the direction of his kwami, the golden-haired boy retorted: "I'm not moping, Plagg."

"Sure you aren't."

Rolling his eyes, the teen stood up, stretched, and padded over to where the cheese-loving demigod was sat.

"Plagg."

A few grumbles were heard, but no legitimate response was formed.

"Plaaaaaaaagg."

Silence.

"Plagg, if you don't stop your own moping, I'll be forced to take drastic measures."

The kwami shifted his body, almost into an 'I dare you' kind of stance, but still didn't respond.

"Fine. No more camembert for you."

Shooting up, Plagg ignored the smug look on his charges face in favor of pleading.

"Adrien, kid! You can't do this! You can't separate me and the love of my life! You can't!"

With a smirk, Adrien leaned in closer and watched the nervousness rise in his kwami's eyes.

"Then you can't tease me for moping over the love of my life."

The demigod looked shocked for a moment, before he doubled-over in laughter.

Adrien's mood switched from one of satisfaction to one of befuddlement.

"What's so funny?"

Cackling, Plagg mimed wiping tears from his face. "You,"—wheeze—"you said,"—snicker—"_you implied Marinette is the love of your life!!_"

Adrien was quick to splutter out excuses, but they fell on deaf ears. The kwami was too busy chortling to listen.

Red in the face, Adrien turned his back on the kwami before he called: "Plagg, Claws Out." Loud protests followed, which helped bring down the redness of the boy's face.

With a leap out his window, the cat started to vault toward a certain bakery.

"I'm not in love with Marinette." He grumbled.

_...right?_

Shaking his head, the superhero landed on the balcony of the girl in question, his mood a little higher as he thought of what was ahead of him. He was about to spend time with Mari! His princess! They were about to walk around, and—

Was that crying?

Using his enhanced hearing, Chat Noir put his ears down to the floor. As he confirmed that he had indeed heard sobs, albeit muffled, red sirens started to blare in his mind.

Oh, _HELL NO_.

Pulling on the trapdoor, Chat broke one of the hinges, which allowed him to slip in. He made a mental note to give her the money to repair it later. But for now, there were more important matters at hand.

Laid on the floor in front of him, was his princess. She had her exact-o knife back in her hand and had hacked away at her wrist. His breath caught in his throat. A clawed hand flew to his mouth. Tears formed in his eyes.

As the boy crawled over to his princess, he saw how bad her wrist was bleeding, and his heart stopped. He then looked to her face and saw her eyes meet his, but there seemed to be no recognition in them. No life, nothing that made his princess his princess.

"Oh, princess." He cooed. He slipped the knife from her hand and threw it behind him, no care as to where it landed. He put his hands under each armpit and gently lifted her to a seated position, then pulled her into a hug and let the tears slide down his face.

They sat like that for a few minutes, before Chat broke away.

"Princess, I need to go grab the first aid kit, okay?"

There was a vague noise of disappointment before she seemed to realize what he said and looked up at him, her eyes panic-stricken.

Before she could start to have another attack, Chat was quick to reassure her: "Princess, hey, Princess. I swear on everything I love and hold dear that I'll be quick and will come back, okay?"

The panic started to settle, before she loosened her grip on him, allowing the boy to stand up.

Before he could hurry down the stairs, he turned to the girl who was watching his every move.

"Oh, and Princess? One of the things I love and hold dear is you."

...oOo...

Rushing down the stairs, Chat tried to not think about what had spilled from his lips. He could almost hear Plagg's laughter. He shook his head, grabbed the kit, and rushed back up in a record thirty seconds.

Even though it hadn't been that long, the relief was apparent in the way Marinette relaxed once he came back up, a dusting of pink atop her cheeks.

Hurrying over, Chat began to clean up her wrist. He pulled out the alcohol and cotton balls and looked up. "Princess, this is will sting, okay? Could you grip my shoulder so you don't scream bloody murder? Since your parents don't know I'm here?" The last part was said with a bashful tone, and the blush that spread when she gripped his shoulder matched the mood, the moonlight shining on both of their pink tinted faces.

Setting the alcohol-soaked cotton on her wrist, he glanced up to see how bad her reaction was. Anxiety filled his bloodstream when she didn't even flinch. He quickly finished the job, as he had another worry to encourage him, and he packed everything up and pushed it to the side.

Picking up the girl bridal style, he carried her over to her chaise and set her down. He clambered on himself, then moved into a cuddling position.

Chat stroked Marinette's hair as he gave her time to calm down. He focused on the slow up-and-down movements of her chest. Waited for it to fall into a steady rhythm.

...oOo...

Twenty minutes later, her breathing was finally normal.

"Princess, would you mind enlightening me on what happened?"

She turned a little away from him in an attempt to draw into herself. But with how close they were, the positions of their bodies, and the size of the chaise, she wasn't successful.

"I can't help you unless you let me, Princess."

"You'll laugh."

Her voice cracked, which broke his heart. The raw emotion that came from such simple words was too much for him to take. She was so sure he wouldn't help. So far into the pit, he wasn't sure how willingly she would leave. The darkness is so much more inviting than reality, he could speak from experience. But this? This was her attempt to avoid the light. Avoid him.

"Princess, I would never laugh. Do I need to swear on you again? Cause I will."

She looked at him, confusion flitting across her face.

He saw this as a success. She wasn't completely gone! She was still able to feel emotions that weren't pure anguish!

"I swear, on everything I love and hold dear, that I won't laugh at what you have to say. And if we want to specify, I swear on the beautiful, sweet, and kind girl that I love oh, so much that's in my arms that I won't laugh at what you say.

"Does that work for you, Princess?"

His eyes had been closed during his proclamation, so when he opened them, he had a slight panic attack.

She had stopped breathing, but he quickly deduced that was due to the fact her hand was over her mouth, her face and neck a lovely shade of red. Certain his face matched hers, he looked down, slightly embarrassed.

At the sound of her voice, however, his head snapped up, enraptured at the sound of her.

"I, uh, I had been doing my home—my French homework, when my eyes slid—slid over and saw the knife. I hadn't put, uh, wasn't able to bring myself to touch, touch it again, so it was sat in the same place as before."

She stopped, seeming unsure of herself. Chat gently nudged and encouraged her to let it all out.

"Um, my brain went into panic mode, cause I think it was triggered? I'm triggered by my exact-o knife now? I don't know. And then my head snapped to my trash can cause, cause I threw out the clothes from that—that night. I then, uh, started to, um, erm, panic.

"I tried to calm down, but then the pain, uh, phantom pain appear—appeared. It was all fine, cause it felt like, uh, kinda like a dull pain? But then my, um—"

She stopped there and looked down in embarrassment.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

She wouldn't look him in the eye.

"You probably don't want to hear about the next part."

Blinking, Chat looked at the girl in his arms. She was ready to hurt herself more by making sure he wasn't uncomfortable?

"Nope. I wanna hear it all. I don't care how embarrassed you think it might make me. Not going to stop me from helping you out, Princess."

She took a deep breath before she spoke, her words susurrus enough he had to strain his ears.

"My vagina started to burn and sting until I couldn't take it anymore, it hurt so bad. I grabbed the knife and cut again and hoped for relief, which I was temporarily gifted until the pain returned. So I continued to cut until you broke in."

Chat stared at her as he felt his heart break even further. He gathered her up in his arms, and sobbed, a reaction he guessed she hadn't expected based off of how stiff she was in his embrace. Eventually, though, she joined him.

They cried like that for a long time. Tears mixed. Hands pulled the other closer. Hair tangled. They were as close as physically possible, but it wasn't close enough. It took Chat peppering her body with kisses, muttering words of sorrow and encouragement between each one for them to calm down.

"I'm so proud of you, Princess."

By the look in her eyes, he had caught her by surprise once again.

"How? I—I messed up! I was better, and then I was worse! And—and I cut again! And—and—and—"

He cut her off.

"Princess, it's okay not to be."

"W—what?"

He sighed and took a moment to search for the proper words.

"It hasn't even been a week since this tragedy happened. Hell, you shouldn't be fully okay for months, even years! Healing takes time, a remedy you seem to not be giving yourself! You're trying to do the impossible."

She was reluctant to accept his answer, though.

"No, I've given myself plenty of time! It's been two whole days! That's more than—"

"NO, IT'S NOT!" Chat blurted. Emotion coursed through his veins, no care as to whether he woke up her parents or not. She was shocked at his outburst, but he was on a roll, not able to notice her reaction.

"Nobody has recovered from something truly horrible or tragic in only a couple of days! Hell, it's been years since I lost someone close to me, and I'm still heartbroken over it! It affects me all the time!"

He looked her in the eyes. Passion burned in his and bewilderment burned in hers.

"So, no. You haven't given yourself enough time. Your reactions are valid, your triggers are valid, your anxiety is valid. Don't try to force yourself to be better when you clearly aren't."

He took a breath, then reiterated what he had said earlier.

"It's okay not to be."

"It's okay—it's okay not to be." She echoed, looking off into space, a place far from here.

He took those few seconds of silence to catch his breath and calm himself down, before sneaking a peek back up at her.

He didn't have long to observe her, however, as she chose that moment to pounce and pull him into a tearful cuddle.

"Thank—thank—_thank you._"

Chuckling, he returned the cuddles with as much ferocity, muttering: "Of course, Princess," though it was lost in the heat of the moment.

They fell into a comfortable silence, which soon led to them falling asleep in each other's arms.

**Woof.**

**So, first off, I'm sorry?**

**This went DEEP and I apologize to all of y'all! I had realized I kind started to erase her trauma...oops.**

**But I hope you enjoyed nonetheless? Idk.**

**I made it longer than the last chapter, and the story is going to last longer than I originally had planned. I hope that makes you guys happy!!**

**Also, this is like, a weird question, cause only 3 people seem to like my stuff (me, myself, and I [I make jokes like these and expect people to think I'm funny, smh]), but would y'all want to learn more about me? Like, random stuff that isn't too personal? Idk, it's a weird question.**

**Just ignore me.**

**I hope you lovelies have a wonderful rest of your day, and see you in the next chap!!**


	4. Cuddles

***squeaky voice***

**Hey.**

***clears throat and fakes a deep voice***

**Hey—why do I make jokes like these?**

**...Anyways.**

**Yo!! I'm back bb!!**

**This is a shorter chapter because, well, let me apologize first off.**

**I, KittyKatDancer (I should change my username), poorly sacrificed the quality of my writing to instead push out 4-5k words in the last chapter. I apologize deeply, and worked hard (kind of I was busy this week) to make sure I genuinely was happy with this chapter.**

**Now that that's over, enjoy the story!!**

**I do not own Miraculous, otherwise Chat and Mari would hang out more.**

Adrien…Chat Noir…Adrien…Chat Noir…Adrien…

Marinette's mind was indecisive over who it wished to dream about. One minute she was at school and Adrien had swept her off her feet to proclaim his undying love for her. The next minute she was swinging alongside Chat, belly laughing as he told silly jokes to pass the time. It confused her immensely, especially since there were subtle similarities that she couldn't distinguish enough to make any sense of her fantasy.

It seemed to focus on the sound of their laughter. How they chuckled as Marinette/Ladybug made a joke. How they giggled as Marinette blushed and stuttered/when Ladybug teased him back. How their laughter sounded identical, though Chat's tended to have more life within it.

The color of their eyes was another major focus. How the green glinted when they smirked right before they made a move on her. How the speckles of a deeper shade stood out when tears formed in their eyes from laughing so much. How their eyes darkened as they became serious, as the mood changed completely. How their eyes lit up when they looked at her, full of love and endearment.

The warmth was an ever constant presence. Her body was so warm, and to say she loved it was an understatement. The warmth was a calming ubiquity. It kept her relaxed and focused, even in a silly dream. That, mixed with the smell of leather, a cologne that she recognized but couldn't place, and . . . cheese. It was one of her stranger dreams, but also one of her, surprisingly, favorites.

At least, until, the warmth and smell abruptly left.

She felt cold. Exposed. She was turned around. Fell out of Adrien's arms as Marinette. Slipped because she missed her target with her yo-yo as Ladybug. Her balance was thrown off. The warmth had held her together, and it left?

Her eyes snapped open, frantically looking around. They locked on green eyes surrounded by a black mask and it took a second for her to recognize who they belonged to.

"Chat?" She yawned. Rubbing at her eyes, the girl's brain took its time to register what was occurring at that moment. Suddenly, the pieces of a puzzle she didn't know she was solving clicked.

Marinette sprang up into a seated position and almost fell as a result of her flailing around. Were it not for the cat on her chaise she would have, though his heroic deeds placed them in an awkward position.

One of his hands on the small of her back, the other in hers. Their faces mere inches apart, both a fiery red color. Neither could move for fear of dropping the girl, so they both searched each other's eyes.

It took Marinette 5 minutes to realize the boy had been speaking from the moment she woke up, only to have momentarily stopped to catch her, then to pick it back up after he ensured she wasn't about to fall.

"—I am so goddamn sorry, oh my god. You probably think I'm a creep or pervert, or, or, or a dude who does this kind of shit. Princess, I am _so_ sorry! I betrayed your trust and—"

Marinette placed a finger on his mouth, effectively cutting off his nervous rambles. A frantic look to his eyes, he waited for her to speak, or presumably, by the way he had reacted, shout at him.

"Kitty, it's okay. We were tired. It was warm 'cause we were cuddling, and we both fell asleep. Nobodies trust was betrayed, and we're lucky it's a Saturday! No harm done!" Her voice was light and cheery, the complete opposite of what the boy seemed to have expected.

As he began to whisper, she felt her blush increase as his lips brushed against her finger, his breath hot on her skin.

_His lips are so soft…_

"You're not mad?"

Her head quirked to the side. "No? Why would I be?"

He looked down, ashamed. His lips and her fingers were no longer connected, and they both felt themselves mourning the loss. "Cause I'm a boy and I cuddled you all night, a deed that is completely disrespectful."

Despite how serious his tone was, she couldn't help the giggles that came out of her mouth. They worsened as she saw the look of bemusement he gave her.

"Kitty–"giggle–"I cuddle with friends–"snort–"all the time! And the fact that–"chuckle–"you're a boy means nothing." Her voice softened. "You're a gentleman and I trust you."

He stared at her for a few seconds before her words seemed to actually kick in. His face rivaled that of Nino's favorite cap, and he was unable to look her in the eye.

After a few minutes of sitting in the awkward position, however, Marinette's arms were starting to ache.

"Hey, um, Chat?"

His eyes still refused to meet hers.

"Yeah, Princess?"

His facial expressions made her snicker.

"Could you, uh, pull me up?"

Her snickers turned into full-blown laughter as his face managed to darken even more. He scrambled to pull her back up, sputtering out apologies all the while.

"Kitty, it's okay! I'm fine, I promise," She mustered out between giggles, rubbing his cheek in consolation.

It was her turn to blush a light shade of pink when he pulled her in for a gentle hug, however. Her chest rumbled as he purred. Her muscles relaxed as his warmth engulfed her body. They sat like that for a while, neither wanting to leave the warmth that was the embrace.

After around eleven minutes, however, Chat forced himself to sit up, regret seeping through every pore in his body.

"Well, I must be off. I have no _idea_ the amount of trouble I'll be in if my caretaker finds out I never came home last night."

It broke her heart to hear how sad he was to leave, and how empty he sounded when talking about home. As he stood up, she caught his wrist, preventing his escape.

_Caretaker?_

There were words she wanted to say, feelings she wanted to get across. So much needed to be said, but how? She wanted to ask about his home life. Wanted to ask if he would ever visit again. Wanted to know if her kitten would ever purr and cuddle her even one more time.

While Marinette internally contemplated how to convey what needed to be said, Chat felt his nerves slowly rise. The frantic look gradually returned to his eyes.

_Fuck, I'm scaring him._

"Come back."

With how long it took her to say two simple words, Chat was rightfully puzzled. His green orbs searched her blue ones for the answers he needed.

_Did she mean it? Is she mad? Is this a joke? I, WHAT DOES SHE MEAN?!?_

"What?"

Looking down, Marinette fumbled with her shirt, her face turning a bright pink that could rival the color of her walls.

"I enjoyed your company, well, um, after the shitty, messy crap was over at least, last night. You're warm, like, super warm, and I like to cuddle with you," She glanced up, looking into his emerald eyes so fiercely that he visibly shuddered. "So, come back."

She said is so simply. Like it was obvious. He should know he's warm, should know she likes to cuddle with him, should know he's welcomed back.

His face turned from one of shock to one of adoration. He gently grabbed her wrist, brought it up to his mouth, and pressed a sweet kiss to it.

"Whatever my princess wishes, it is my duty to obey." He winked. "See you tonight, princess."

She smiled warmly at him as she felt her body relax, her sleepiness hitting her full force. She slumped against her chaise, her head burrowing into her pillows. Her body started to warm up as Chat pulled a blanket over her, which caused her to smile.

"Oh, and princess?"

She yawned."Yes, Chat?"

He grinned sheepishly, tottering away as he slowly began to speak. "Sorry for waking you up before 6."

Her indignant shouts could be heard for three blocks as the boy vaulted towards the cold and away from the warmth.

**Y E E T.**

**I HOPE YOU ENJOYED!!!**

**This was not my best chapter by far, but I'm suffered a lot of writer's block with this chapter. Next chapter should be longer, and I'm planning on releasing a one-shot soon, so look out for that!!**

**Okay, here's the random fact about me that like two people asked for:**

***remembers bedspread, pillow case, the decorative throw pillow in bed, necklace that is worn 24/7, phone case, the two stuffed animals in my bed, especially the one I sleep with on a daily basis (come at me I'm 5)* I, uh, think elephants are okay, I guess.**

**Have a WONDERFUL rest of your day (that was a threat, so you better have a good day), and I'll see you lovelies in the next chapter!!**

**BYEEEEEEEEEEE**


	5. Torturous

**Woop.**

**I'm here y'all. Your most annoying fanfic author has written another average chapter. Celebration tiiiiiiime.**

**So, before the chapter begins, I wanted to have a little chat. A little storytime. (Obviously about Miraculous. I mean, duh.)**

**So, um. Party Crasher, let's start there. I loved this. Nino and gang were SO sweet, and I am so happy they did that. Max and Luka looked DOPE and I can't wait to see when they get their Miraculous! And Kim? Kim's transformation is one of my favorites. I love it so much.**

**Puppeteer 2. Hmmm. Puppeteer 2….**

**Let's just say…**

**WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT??**

**And, circle time over.**

**ENJOY THE CHAPTER!!!**

**I do not own Miraculous otherwise Puppeteer 2 wouldn't have had THOSE TWO STUPID SCENES THAT GAVE ME FIFTY MILLION HEART ATTACKS BEFORE AGE TWENTY...UGH.**

_thump-thump._

Memories of her sifted through his mind. They taunted him once more. Reminded him of how hurt she was. How hurt she is. How he couldn't stay with her forever. Couldn't cuddle the pain away.

It was torturous.

_Thump-Thump._

Making regular use of his model smile, Adrien assured Nathalie he was fine. Glad she didn't question the yearning look to his eyes, he continued to stare blankly at the plate set in front of him.

His body moved in a stiff manner as it brought the food to his mouth. He tasted static, yet still relentlessly finished his small breakfast. Betraying no emotion, he walked the tray to the kitchen and ignored the questioning glances thrown his way from the staff.

Returning to his room yielded no break from the onslaught of Marinette. She was everywhere. His bedsheets morphed into her hair. The sky twinkled like her eyes. The white walls of his room shone like her smile. His nose filled with the smell of her.

His senses were overwhelmed, to say the least.

When a loud bang was heard from across the city, Adrien had never been more excited for an akuma. As he called for his transformation, he leapt through the window he had entered from only a few hours prior. That action did not help the frenzy his brain had been thrown into in the slightest.

Chat was distracted the entire fight. The pink designs of the akuma brought memories of her room to the forefront of his mind. The heat that radiated off the victim's body called forth the image of an asleep Marinette, cuddled into his arms, trusting him for some odd reason. Every time his lady was in sight, his brain could only think _princess?_

_ThumP-ThumP._

Keeping her out of sight didn't work.

The akuma was eventually defeated, saving another countless victim from Hawkmoth. Watching them look around, dazed, Chat felt a connection to the stranger. He wanted to go talk to him, but was struck with the sudden realization of how Marinette that was, and he was once again a hindrance to those around him.

The look Ladybug gave him after she purified the akuma made his knees turn to jelly.

And not in a good way.

_THumP-THumP._

Following her to the Eiffel Tower (gosh, Marinette loves to sketch the tower), Chat tried to come up with ways to explain to his lady what was wrong with him without betraying the trust of his princess. His inner turmoil must have been evident on his face, as the stern look on Ladybug's face softened ever so slightly.

"Chat, what's wrong?"

Hugging himself, Chat studied his boots. "I don't know how to explain without betraying their trust."

There was a short bout of silence before she responded, the syllables of each word drawn out. "Who's trust?"

Clenching his eyes shut, the boy gripped his arms tightly, silently asking Mari to forgive him. "Marinette's."

_THUmP-THUmP._

Silence filled the space between them once more. Hoping to ease the growing tension, words tumbled out of Chat's mouth.

"You know, the, uh, the girl you had me watch during, uh, crap. Um. Oh! The girl you needed me to watch during Evillustrator? Marinette! Hehe, you know. Right??"

For a split second, Chat was worried he had somehow offended his lady. Glancing up, he saw her attempting to hide a smirk, though her attempts seemed to have little effort behind them.

"My Lady?"

Waving his concern away, Ladybug cleared her throat and, mostly, wrangled her smile under control.

"I'm fine, Chat. Yes, I know who Marinette is. How would you betray her trust by telling me what's wrong?"

Memories resurfaced of Marinette's tears while she told him what had happened. Of her blaming herself of all people. Of her suffering through every second of every day, not sure that her friends would still be there for her when she woke up.

Feeling a tear fall from his lashes, Chat whispered, his voice watery. "Because it's what happened to her that started the plague in my mind."

Arms instantly wrapped around him, gifting him their shoulder to cry on. Hugging her tight, Chat started to mumble, words complete jargon without the context behind them.

"Her hair is my bedsheet—my walls are her teeth—her eyes are the sky—"

"Kitty." Ladybug said, cutting him off. "Whatever it is that happened, you can't blame yourself. She wouldn't want you to. I don't want you to."

Sniffling, Chat looked at her through blurred eyes. "But I should have been there. Should have protected her. Should have stopped it from happening. The bakery is on my side of town for patrol,_ I should have been there._"

With a wave of fresh tears on his face, he felt her rubbing circles on his cheek, wiping the tears away. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by the beeps of her Miraculous.

Taking a shaky breath, Chat wiped the remnants of his tears away and faked a smile. "Go. I'll be fine. Promise."

Her response was not immediate. He could see her wrestling with her inner thoughts, watching her experience her own 'inner turmoil'. After around ten seconds of this, she spoke, her words punctual and short. "No."

_THUMP-THUMP._

That took Chat by surprise, all memories of Marinette temporarily evaporating. "No?"

Ladybug looked him straight in the eyes, hers practically boring into his soul. "No. I'm not leaving. I want you to know who I am. I think it might help. I know it will help."

Blinking, Chat took in the appearance of the woman in front of him. Her stance was confident, though her eyes betrayed her nerves. There wasn't any reason to believe she would lie to him about this, but he still felt slightly suspicious.

"O—okay."

She closed her eyes, took a breath, and spoke the three magic words. "Tikki, Spots Off."

When the pink light faded, Chat's eyes met blue orbs and he froze.

_THUMP._

**_Nino?_**

**Jkjk.**

**So, that was the chapter. I'm having trouble being satisfied with my writing lately, but this was the best I could get it (not really but we'll pretend anyways). Also, sorry for it being so short again...**

**I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter by your least favorite author (jk, obviously I'm not even on the list :P).**

**Random fact 'bout me: *thinks hard because I'm not an interesting person* I have a pet cat and she is the only thing in this world that I would do absolutely anything for...yeah.**

**I PUT THIS AT THE END SO YOU CAN'T YELL AT ME (YOU PROBABLY WILL ANYWAYS) BUT THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE THE LAST ONE. SORRY.**

**See you lovelies in the next chapter!!!**


	6. Twice

**My biggest accomplishment this chapter was spelling necessarily correctly _twice_ on the _first_ try. Once in the story, and the second time just now :)) [the second parenthesis was a double chin...the more you know]**

**Hey you beauties! I'm so happy to announce that I finished early (cause I decided to curl up at the end of my bed and type feverishly into my phone earlier in the week for once) and decided to upload early as well!! Though I'm also sad, cause that means the story is over. But I'm also happy because that means no more stressing over how to perfect my writing. But I'm also sad kdifhdododnddkdn…**

***awkward chuckle***

**Anyways!!**

**Enjoy the chapter!! :)) [another double chin…]**

**I do not own Miraculous otherwise *tries to think of one I haven't done already that pertains to the chapter* craaaaaAAAAAAAAP!**

Though the bright, harsh light had faded long ago, a soft aura of pink surrounded the girl in front of him. Her hair blew in the wind, a consequence of them being up so high. She gnawed at her lip in nervous anticipation, unsure of how he would react. Her blue eyes shone, though they sparkled with fear.

All of these beautiful details were noticed, but his brain was only able to focus on one detail at a time.

_Marinette is Ladybug._

His mouth agape, all Chat was able to do was stare. His tears had long since dried, though hers had only started to form.

He tried to figure out why. Why was she crying? There was no reason to cry. It was him. Chat. Why was she crying—

"You're disappointed, aren't you."

The whisper of her voice caught him by surprise. He stared at her some more, confusion mixing with the adoration he thought was obviously radiating off of him.

Disappointed? Disappointed? How on _Earth_ could he be disappointed? His beautiful, strong, amazing lady was also his adorable, fearsome, wonderful princess. Who in their right mind would be disappointed?

A tear slipped down her cheek as she drew into herself, mumbling: "Of course you are. How could I be so stupid to believe you would still like me after I revealed myself."

Once those words left her mouth, Chat was finally snapped from his stupor. He closed the gap between them, pulled her into a hug, and squeezed tight with no plans to let go.

She let out a small gasp, but returned the hug as soon as the initial shock wore off. He could feel Ladybug—no, Marinette relax, the tension she had held in her shoulders releasing. As the scent of her shampoo wafted into his nose (mmm, vanilla), his mind felt at ease, as it no longer had to war between two girls.

_I can't believe I fell in love with the same girl twice._

When Marinette tensed in his arms, he knew he messed up somewhere. Racking his brain for possibilities, his eyes made contact with hers. Her blue orbs shone with confusion, amusement, and…hope? The solution decided to smack him in the face at that exact moment, no longer allowing him to enjoy the sight of her eyes.

"Shit, I said that out loud, didn't I?" With a nervous laugh, Chat reached back to scratch his neck while a blush blossomed on his face.

Giggling, Marinette placed both of her hands on his cheeks, effectively creating a darker shade to cover his cheeks. "Yes, Chaton. You did."

Grumbling, he made a face at her. "Your fault."

With amusement riding her features, she tilted her head and quirked an eyebrow. "My fault? How is it my fault you confessed your love for both sides of me?"

Though her words managed to turn his face even darker than before, he was determined to find a handhold in this cliff she had created before him. "It's your fault, being all beautiful and strong as Ladybug and then dropping it on me that you're also my adorable and wonderful princess, then expecting me to have coherent thoughts."

Her cheeks turned a cute shade of pink as she did the mature thing for someone her age…

And stuck her tongue out.

Bursting into laughter, Chat felt his mood shift from one of wonderment to one of glee. They stood there, laughing like idiots, for a while, neither willing to be the one to break the mood. They felt carefree, happy, a feeling neither had felt much of in the past few days (or years, if that person was Chat).

But his brain had been programmed to not allow happiness for more than a few seconds. So like all good moments, this had to come to an abrupt and bitter end.

Images of her in her room crying her eyes out while blood stained her floor flashed in his mind. His laughter stopped as he remembered the reason she revealed herself to him. Staring at her, his forgotten tears made themselves known once more.

"Chat, what's wrong?" Worry riddled her face, which encouraged the guilt festering in his stomach to boil, to touch every nerve and to break any and every dam he had built up.

Tears freely flowing, he pulled her in for another embrace, unable to form words to answer her inquiry. She hugged him back as her coos filled his ears and her hands patted his back.

Though her efforts were appreciated, they only made him cry harder.

"He's—" gasp—"he's—" sniff—"_he's gonna learn the definition of regret,_" Chat mustered out, his words chopped up because of his sobs and breathing attack.

"Who?" She cooed in that soft voice of hers, continually a source of comfort even in the midst of her own pain.

"That _monster_ that hurt not only _my_ princess, but also _my_ lady," Chat all but growled, imagining the way his claws would sink into that perpetrator's skin.

Her pats stopped, which broke him from his violent fantasies. He could sense her uneasiness, and silently cursed himself for speaking in such a manner.

"I'm so, so, so, _so_ sorry, Mari. I spoke out of turn, and I obviously brought back memories you didn't need to be reminded of." He looked down at his boots, not finding his cause worthy enough to beg for her forgiveness.

With a wave of her hand, she dismissed the apology. As her fingers pushed his chin up until his eyes met hers, he felt himself become lost once more. It was so easy to. The oceans she had for eyes were crystal clear. They beckoned him to come closer, called to him from across the bay. They told him all would be okay. Told him all he needed to hear and more. Right before he made the decision to jump into the water, her voice broke the spell cast upon him.

"Kitty, I'm not mad. It's, well, it surprised me how possessive you became, _whichisn'tnecessarilybad_. Surprising, but not bad."

Glancing at her lips, Chat felt his tongue seize up. All he could do was imagine how soft they would feel against his own. Wonder how they tasted—would they taste like her or like her favorite flavor of chapstick? Subconsciously, he licked his lips before he realized staring at her wasn't an actual answer.

Not trusting his voice, he gave her a small smile and filled it with all the warmth and love he could snag from his distracted brain. He watched as she bit the exact lips that were distracting him, obviously nervous about whatever was on her mind.

"So, can I know who you are, or..."

Blinking away his surprise, Chat scrambled for some sort of legitimate answer that wasn't you can have whatever you want, princess.

"Oh, yes! Haha, yes, sorry. I was still caught up on how cute you are to realize I was still transformed haha..ha…" He trailed off, awkwardly looking to the side. He hoped against everything she didn't regret every decision she had made so far that night.

To his (and his ear's) delight, she giggled once more before she took a step back. Looking towards him with anticipation, she made her thought process clear: _whenever you're ready._

Clearing his throat, Chat took a deep breath, then spoke quietly: "Plagg, Claws In."

Clenching his eyes shut, he awaited screams of disgust or for her to stumble back away from him, disappointed her partner was none other than—

"Adrien," she breathed, causing him to snap his eyes open. When he saw no disgust or disappointment evident on her face, he visibly relaxed. Though he began to worry when he realized he still had to decipher the emotions that flitted across her face.

Before he had the ability to even wonder what could possibly be running through her mind, she strutted up to him, grabbed his head, and connected his lips to hers.

His mind turned blank the second her lips touched his. For the first half-second of the kiss, he was stiff, a result of being caught unaware. His eyes were wide open and his arms were by his sides. But as he slowly realized what was happening, that last half of the first second was dedicated to him letting his eyelids fall, snaking his arms around her waist, and deepening the kiss.

Among the many hazy thoughts that ran through his mind, the two most prominent ones were that her lips were even softer than he could have ever imagined, and that her lips tasted like her chapstick.

_Mmm, strawberry_…

As their lungs gave out, they broke apart, both gasping for air. Marinette's arms relaxed as she let her forearms rest on his shoulders. Her face was a brilliant pink color, and he suspected his was a similar shade.

Chuckling, Marinette muttered a few words under her breath before she pulled him in for another kiss.

_I can't believe I fell in love twice too._

...oOo…

"I've missed this," she sighed. With a glance to her right, she locked eyes with the blond walking beside her.

He bumped his hip against her with a chuckle. "I can see why."

Paris was a beautiful city, a fact Marinette was well aware of. There was a reason it was nicknamed the city of love, and why so many tourists were attracted to visit. But the true beauty of her city couldn't be appreciated in its entirety during the daytime. Not with the bustling, crowded streets and the sidewalks filled with visitors.

At nighttime, the city _glowed_. The tower was lit up along with other famous monuments. It was a sight to behold, even when she could only view it from the ground. And with the look Chat, no, Adrien had in his eyes, he saw and felt the same.

Giggling, she opted to admire the way his eyes glowed with awe and the way they stood out against the dark, black leather of his mask. When her eyes drifted to his lips, she reminisced of earlier that night, reminding herself of why his lips were so swollen and pink.

"Well, well, well. I didn't expect to see you out here so late, especially not when wearing such tantalizing clothing," a deep voice purred, intruding her thoughts and turning her blood to ice.

She couldn't force herself to turn around. Couldn't force herself to run away. Couldn't force herself to cry for help. And she hated it. Hated how this stupid man's voice caused her so much fear. Caused her so much grief. Hadn't he took enough already? Hadn't he harmed her enough—

"Fuck off," a voice growled, one much more comforting to her ears. She felt as Adrien, or, Chat stood in front of her. She heard him unclip his baton and extend it. As her body finally allowed her to turn, she saw him crouch into a battle stance, claws out and eyes furious.

"Chat, uh, Chat Noir! Heh, what are you doing out here?" The monster stuttered out, fear trickling into his voice.

A smirk found its way onto Chat—Adrien's face. He rose to his full height, which incidentally left him towering over the older man, and let his voice drop into a soft, sultry purr, mimicking the monster's voice from earlier.

"Funny. I could ask you the same question," he drawled, looking his eyes up and down the shit pile that stood before him. "I could also ask you why you were catcalling my friend."

With a nervous gulp, the man searched for excuses. "Well, you see uh, I, we, uh, we know each other! Yeah, yeah. She's like, um, my girlfriend! Yes, yes. My girlfriend. I'm allowed to talk to my girlfriend, am I not?"

Snorting, Adrien, or rather, Chat took a step away from her but still made a conscious effort to completely block the man from reaching her. "Yes, your _girlfriend_."

Obviously not catching onto the superhero's sarcasm, the man felt his confidence grow. "Yes, now if you'd excuse me, I'll—"

The man was against the wall of a nearby building before he could even take a step forward. Marinette watched as the two boys _(no, boy. They're one boy_ her mind reminded her) she loved looked at the man, his head tilted with his eyelids half-closed, and his mouth parted while he observed the monster, hate rolling off of every cell in his body.

"Hate to break it to you," he deadpanned, "but the girl is at _least_ half your age. And even if she were your age, she would never date a guy like you. You know why? Cause she has standards. And you, sir, do not meet any of them. Not. A. Single. One. You hear me?"

The man was too shaken up to answer, which angered the hero.

"Do. You. HEAR ME?" Adrien—Chat—uh, Adrien roared as his claws broke enough skin to draw blood.

"Yes!" The man cried out, visibly shaking from the panic that had taken control of his body.

"Good."

Shoving the man away from him, and Marinette, Adrien—...Chat spat out one final warning, 'You are not to look at her, nor any other woman again, understand?', before he knocked him out with a hard jab of his baton.

His mood shifted suddenly, going from one of protection to one of worry. He stumbled over, before stopping in front of her, concern marring his features. "Are you okay, Princess?"

With a sob, she buried her face in his chest, unable to express her gratitude and happiness with words. And although she felt her hug gave more than enough to suffice for an answer, she knew the Adrien side of Chat wouldn't understand the message. She pulled out of the hug, only to grab his bell to crash his lips against hers.

The kiss was sloppy, but Marinette had a feeling he would receive the message much easier in kiss format than via hug.

With a gasp, they pulled away from the kiss, foreheads touching and eyes (hers, at least) closed. Her voice was hoarse, a result of the kiss and her crying: "Thank you, Adrien."

When she said his real name even though she was aware he was still transformed, Marinette felt him jump a bit. But he relaxed as quickly as he startled and pressed his body closer to hers. "Anything for you, My Lady."

"Adrien?"

Chat looked down at her, his green eyes ablaze as they met hers. "Yes, Princess?"

Unable to leave the meadows that were his eyes, her voice dropped to a whisper. "Can we go home?"

Marinette watched as he took in a sharp breath, before breaking out in a warm smile. Wordlessly, he scooped her up in his arms and began to vault towards her balcony. He faltered for a second when she rested her head on him, but quickly regained balance as her home came into view.

Gently setting her down on her terrace, he made moves to leave, but she grabbed his wrist before he had the chance to. He looked back at her once more, his eyes filled with love and endearment. "What is it, Mari?"

Unable to find the words, she internally thought _fuck it_ and pulled him in for a sweet kiss. There was a muffled squeak, as he was caught unaware for the third time that night, but he eventually leaned in, both savoring the kiss.

"That," she panted, "was for saving me. And this," she said before she pulled him closer so that his face inches away from hers, "is for being the best kitten ever."

As she pulled him in for one last kiss, they both heard the sound of camera shutters, but neither cared. All that needed their focus was right in front of them, and they never wanted to turn around again.

-_Epilogue_-

"Alya, for the _last time_. Chat walked with me, because I asked him to, and he saved me from a creep. It was a thank-you kiss, nothing more," Marinette pleaded, but to no avail. She was preaching to the choir, as Alya wasn't budging.

"Seriously, girl? That was not a 'thank you kiss'. That was a full-blown kiss that happens between two lovers." Smirking, Alya closed the distance between the two. "Which you evidently are."

When she rolled her eyes, Marinette glimpsed the sight of Adrien out of the corner of them. Waving him over, she started to ramble the moment he was in earshot. "Adrien, don't you agree that this was simply a thank you kiss, not once between lovers?"

She watched as Adrien confusedly blinked, seemed to have a debate in his mind, and smirked a smirk to rival that of Chat Noir's (haha). "I don't know, Mari. Kind of seems like a kiss between two lovers if you ask me."

Glaring at him, Marinette felt her blood pressure rise along with her bloodlust.

_That cat is_ so _dead_.

**Eep.**

**So, that was it. That's the end! I'm actually so happy with this chapter, and I hope I made it sugary sweet enough for you fluffsters (idek).**

**I had debated making the second half another chapter that I would post the same day, but in the end decided to figure it out and not take the lazy route.**

**So, the actual hardest part of this freaking chapter was figuring out how to describe their kisses, since they were full of love and were all magical. *whips out of awkwardness***

**And _yes._ The epilogue was inspired by that one _beautiful _comic by someone whose name I don't remember. Come at me.**

**Random fact: *squints eyes* I love to read, and some of my favorite series include Harry Potter, Percy Jackson/basically all of the mythology crap Rick writes, The Ascendance Trilogy, and the Flame in the Mist duology.**

**Yoink.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and my writing for this fic! I'm definitely going to continue writing more, so keep an eye out for that! I also recently posted a one-shot called Longing, so I'm going to promote it here with (lots) of shame (*shrugs*).**

**I hope you lovelies have an AMAZING day, and see you all in the next fic!!!**


End file.
